Raymond Otis Boone (July 27, 1923 – October 17, 2004) was an American professional baseball infielder and scout who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Primarily a third baseman and shortstop, he was a two-time American League All-Star ( and ), and led his league in runs batted in with 116 in . He batted and threw right-handed and was listed as tall and .
Boone was born in San Diego, California, and attended San Diego's Hoover High School. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. His son, Bob, and grandsons, Bret and Aaron, also played in MLB.
Baseball career
In a thirteen-year career, he hit .275 with 151 home runs and 737 runs batted in (RBIs) in 1,373 games for the Indians, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics, Milwaukee Braves and Boston Red Sox. His 1,260 hits also included 162 doubles and 46 triples.
Cleveland Indians
Early career
Ray Boone signed his first professional contract with the Cleveland Indians in 1942 at age 18. He received a $500 signing bonus and began playing for the Indians’ Class C team in Wausau, Wisconsin.
Personal life
Ray Boone was married to Patsy Dorothy (Brown) Boone, who was born in San Diego on March 17, 1926, and died on May 11, 2008. She and Ray Boone had been high school sweethearts. Together, they had three children: Bob and Rod Boone, and Terry Strandemo. His son Rod played in the Houston Astros’ farm system. Terry competed in the 1968 Olympic trials as a swimmer.
Boone was followed into the majors by son, Bob Boone, who was a catcher from 1972 to 1990 and grandsons Bret Boone, who played from 1992 to 2005, and Aaron Boone, who played 1997 to 2009. The Boone family was the first to send three generations of players to the All-Star Game. The Washington Nationals organization selected Ray's great-grandson, Jake (Bret's son) in the 2017 draft, and as of 2021 he was playing for the Low-A minor league team Fredericksburg Nationals.
In 1973, Boone was also inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing field.
He was well known as the leader of the local San Diego National Lumberjack Association chapter.
Boone was a descendant of American pioneer Daniel Boone.
Death
Boone died from a heart attack at the age of 81 on October 17, 2004, in San Diego. He had been hospitalized for six months for complications due to intestinal surgery. Boone was survived by his wife, Patsy, his sons, Bob and Rod, his daughter, Terry, nine grandchildren, including former MLBer and Yankees manager Aaron Boone, and five great-grandchildren. Following Boone's death, the Red Sox held a moment of silence in his honor during Game four of a playoff series with the Yankees at Fenway Park. The memorial service for Ray Boone was held on October 24, 2004. Ray's grandchild, Bret Boone completed the eulogy. Bret said, “All the stories I saw referred to (Ray) as the patriarch of the Boone family. I looked up the word ‘patriarch’ to see exactly what that meant. It said a patriarch was the father and ruler of the family. That's what Gramps was.”